Category Archives: Jennifer’s Posts

Sweet Distractions

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I’ve mentioned before that although my women’s bible study has long since finished going through, “Stepping Heavenward” with the study guide, I figured I should still um…START it…and work on it during my morning ‘devotional’ time. I had just finished commenting on twitter that I feel “behind”…even though I’m not going through this WITH anyone (on earth anyway..ha), and I’ve not been given a time-line….why must I always make things into rules I have to follow, or better yet a competition?

Anyhow, on I went with the business of the study. I was too look up 1John 5:19 & Matthew 4:8-10 in regards to ‘worldliness’ & who ‘has authority to rule over this world’. While reading 1John I got a little distracted by a mention of an ‘unpardonable sin’. I’ve seen mention of this elsewhere and it always makes me feel uncomfortable. Given my propensity toward legalism and wanting to know I’m following “the rules” purely for the sake of the rules, I’ve always gotten nervous at the notion of an unpardonable sin. I mean…surely I’ve committed “every sin in the book” in one form or another….including verbal blasphemy. Enter nagging doubt. So I read the study notes in my bible, but it was mostly just a redirect to a mini-article that was in Mark. Not wanting to get distracted, I made a ‘mental note’ (aka: will forget it in 30 seconds never to return again) to look it up after i “finish”. Then off on my merry way to Matthew 4. Except I accidentally went to MARK 4. After struggling to figure out how the heck Mark 4:8-10 ties in with the given topic, I realized I was in the wrong book. But then I noticed, “hey, there’s that article on the unpardonable sin”. So of course I read it. Feeling sufficiently relieved, I went back on my way.

Then I stopped. Wait….that was NOT my run of the mill “i get distracted far too easily” type-distraction. That just slew an enemy that would’ve been lying in wait for me the rest of the day (week/month/life?)…sorry..been reading too much old school Sir Lancelot…. Suddenly I became aware of the Goodness of my Father in Heaven…and reminded that indeed….He loves…ME. How quickly I forget. How sweet for him to “distract” me, to shine a light on my doubt…helping me realize not only “what it means” but the reminder of the assurance of my salvation –> it cannot be ‘lost’…the goodness of God & richness of His love & mercy (toward me..even me!)…that He would ‘interrupt’ my bible study to encourage me and gird me against that doubt that hangs on my every word waiting to accuse me.

Bubble & Bee Organic Review

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Guess since it’s been over a month we’re due for a review on the bubble and bee shampoo, lotion stick and (rootbeer..mmm..) lip balm.

For those who missed the first mention of it, I bought the above (actually the lip balm was a freebie!), due to winning a $25 gift card from Traveling with Baby. I went for the Shampoo Discount Package. I have tried plain old castille soap (i think i liked this except the vinegar rinse made me smell of vinegar…but i was doing it wrong. so perhaps i could try just the soap again…), only baking soda (again i did it a bit ‘wrong’ but my hair was breaking, brittle and falling out all over the place…F-R-I-E-D) & aubrey organics shampoo/conditioner (heavy, limp, greasy & buildup issues). Yet still for some reason i felt compelled to try this “for real” natural shampoo, because it had a label that really seemed to live up to the ‘natural’ claim.

I also wanted to try the lotion stick b/c I have also had ‘issues’ with ‘natural’ moisturizers…the reale-o trulio versions doing nothing for me and the super high priced but…”wait..what are all those chemicals on the label? i thought this was natural”..if i’m paying too much for a product I want it to REALLY be “all natural”. I still SO VERY wish plain old coconut oil worked for me….so many people swear by it….ok, i’ll stop before i get bitter.

Here we go: The lip balm:
I did not order this. But i am SO thankful they sent it!! It is rootbeer flavored & boy is it yummy. :) I have on more than one occasion put it on & then people walk around sniffing asking where the rootbeer smell was coming from. heh. So if you’re into that sort of thing, ++. As for performance, LOVE it. Asher has some chapped lip issues and complains about most chapsticks i put on him b/c they burn, but this does not. However, it DOES help his lips…and I don’t get that ‘chapstick withdrawl’ sensation when i miss a day…if you’re a kindred obsessive chapstick/lip gloss user you know what i mean…they get peely and..well…kinda chapped…like they’re addicted to something in it (i find this most common in the super tingly varieties). weird. anyway, doesn’t happen here.

The lotion Stick:
Went with Chai guy. I LOVE chai tea. mm….and this smell lived up to it. Not sure i’d want my man necessarily smelling like chai tea…though that’s who the scent is intended for. Anyhow, First: this does work great. I had some scaly rough rashy skin on my hands leftover from scratching a rash that enveloped my upper body for a couple weeks (culprit was flax seeds i had started adding to my daily smoothie…weird). Anyhow, no matter what or how much i slathered on my hands, those splotchy rough areas were persistent. Chai guy kicked it out & even though i’ve gotten lazy about using it (& my hands are dry), it’s still gone. The downside? It’s a firm stick…hence the name. NOT conducive for rubbing about on jointed body parts. i found it annoying and time-consuming. I should try the body butter probably. I like slathering moisturizer, not frantically rubbing it until i can get it to the point of attempting a slather sensation.

Shampoo:
This is not “normal” shampoo. It is a soap-based hair product that does not come with matching conditioner. You use diluted vinegar as a ‘rinse’, which not only softens & detangles (& adjusts ph or something) but helps remove soap residue. I went with the Lemon shampoo partially b/c my hair is pretty ‘average’ (not super dry, not super greasy) and partially because Ryan dislikes the smell of tea-tree oil (!! i personally really like it).

I was mostly concerned about smelling of vinegar. I used both apple cider vinegar & white vinegar. Both work fine, though I think the white leaves less of a strong odor in the bathroom…but I could be wrong. Ryan is the odor police (who gags after i shower if he enters before it’s been aerated), so ask him. ;) Apparently when my hair is wet, it does have a vinegar aroma, but seeing as how it’s only wet when I’m alone (Ryan is a water hog so we won’t share shower time till we have a double shower head), I don’t mind. As long as I’m not walking around all day smelling of vinegar & people start describing me as “the one with long hair who smells like vinegar”, I’m fine.

As for my hair? I am TOTALLY 100% SOLD. It’s awesome. Shiny, NO fly-aways, not greasy (i wash every other or every 3rd day, and it’s fine, but if it’s 3 days i do have to wash my bangs..and by the end of the day it is evident i need a shower, which i had to do w/regular shampoo anyway), super soft, and i haven’t used any “product” (smoothing spray, mouse, hairspray) in a month. Granted, my ‘styling’ (or lack thereof) doesn’t really cry out for any….but i had gotten dependent on a shine enhancer to both add shine & control flyaways. As mentioned earlier I’m tempted to try plain old castille again but this shampoo uses saponafied jojoba oil as one of the soaps & I’m wondering if that makes a good bit of difference (jojoba oil is supposed to be very close to the oil that our body makes which naturally softens our hair). I’m loving my hair lately so I’m not in a rush to mess that up.

There you have it. When I run out if it is “ok’d” by the bookeeper I absolutely will buy more shampoo from them. I’d like to try the body butter too, but I have a hard time spending money on beauty care products so we’ll see if I ever get around to it. I am not being paid to endorse them, I’m just happy to do it gratis. :)

Also, I made sure to type this up tonight b/c their deodorant is apparently being featured on a “green” segment on the Today Show tomorrow 7-11am (Eastern Standard…I don’t know what that means for us Pacific folks, and I’m too lazy to look it up since um…I’m not sure any Pacific folks even read the blog). I thought that was fun.

Dandelions Everywhere

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I think i’ve decided Dandelions are my favorite flower. I don’t care if they’re not ‘really’ flowers. we seem to be living in the capital of the dandelion world. they’re EVERYWHERE. the kids are so excited. flowers everywhere AND they’re allowed to pick each and every one! We have had a consistent glass filled with them this whole week.

I already posted about the song last year, so I won’t re-do that. Just read this old post & it explains why they’re among my favorite flowers (daisies of all kinds being next in line). Why I love Dandelions

Thinkin’ others’ thoughts

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I promise i am getting to the “what i learned on my lent vacation” and “how i feel about the bubbleandbee shampoo” posts. As with most peripheral hobbies of mine, when i have the time for them, i often don’t have the brain power or energy to persue them. But persue them I do, just at a snail’s pace. ;)

In the meantime I just read this and it’s something I’ve been purposing more and more lately to remember (reading “stepping heavenward” has helped keep it in view, and to plug it yet again, i promise it’s a really fun read!!). Of course some days/moments it’s easier than others.

anyway, pretty sure it’s quoting a quote, but all i’m gonna give you is the blog where the rest of the goodies can be found (back to that lack of brain power or energy): Radical Womanhood

Years ago when I was going through something really tough as a mom, I had an older woman in my life who kept saying to me, “You know this is for you.” When I was dealing with kids being cranky or not sleeping or not eating or, you know, destroying my house or not being able to keep up with the laundry or feed them or just the myriad things that go along with mothering, she would always remind me, “You know this is not just about your children. This is for you.”
I did not appreciate that statement back then; I really didn’t. But you know what? I understand it now because motherhood is the greatest tool I know for God to shape me and mold me and chisel me for eternity.

Christ is Risen!

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He is risen indeed! :)

Happy Resurrection Day/Easter! May we all reflect on the miracle of God coming to earth, living a sinless life, dying an undeserved death, experiencing the wrath of the Almighty God all on our behalf…and being RESURRECTED from the dead, alive and well seated at the right hand of the Father, always interceding on our behalf. As was emphasized this morning at church: May we believe and live knowing this is true….not as if we WISHED it were true! May we live in such a way that if it were not true, our lives would be worthless.

Much love from the Burns’.

Chuckle Chuckle

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3 things I find funny about our first Easter at home w/the kids:

1) My kids don’t seem to have gotten the memo that they’re supposed to get candy tomorrow. Good thing, since they’re not getting any. They’re getting books. muwhahahaha……and i’m 99.99% sure they’ll be excited about the selections.

2) My husband apparently hasn’t heard that most people hide REAL eggs (the hard boiled dyed varieties) on Easter. He seemed very perplexed yesterday that this was my intention. Either that or he’s apprehensive about toddlers finding them & cracking them. For this reason I also bought plastic eggs (stuffed with stickers….muwhahahaha).

3) Before putting the kids down, i said that we would hunt for & have our Easter eggs for breakfast (with some bacon). Asher was VERY excited about ‘hunting’ for his breakfast. ha! did I mention he once went to the backyard during ‘roomtime’ declaring he would hunt for dinner….& i thought he was playing pretend? He was not. he was literally trying to hunt finches in the backyard with a stick. We had to call my uncle joe (who is a ‘real’ hunter) in PA, to clarify the age prerequisite for hunting to ease Asher’s objections.

Kid Talk & Ramblings

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I felt inspired by a friend to catalog some of Grace’s speech patterns…but I can’t think of anything right now except for: Yasher = Asher
And she went through a phase last month where she was ending all songs (including ones like baa-baa black sheep, the ABC’s ect.) with “Amen” (doxology-style). But even that is waning. Still does it on occasion.

She is however speaking much more clearly lately (not that there aren’t plenty of opportunities to employ the use of our in-house translator…tonight he translated “Fried Chicken” for me…don’t ask me how she said it, i have no idea). She’s never lacked for words…just didn’t until recently have very many INTELLIGIBLE ones.

She has also somehow gotten cuter. I know..doesn’t seem possible. I think it has to do with the increase in understandability or something. All that physical drama with cute little words to match. Cracks me up. I believe she is destined for the stage. I could just chew on her all day if she’d let me (and she does have a high tolerance for letting me chew on her). I talked her into pig tails the other day and decided that she will henceforth and forevermore wear them. That lasted all of one day. Maybe some day she’ll start keeping things in her hair!

Speaking of Asher: That’s his new thing. “Speaking of ____, how about we ____” or “Speaking of ____, can I ____?” Most of the time he uses it properly, which is pretty funny. Today I bought some palm sugar from the Asian grocery down the road and let them have a little bite when we got home. Later i called Grace sugar. He looked up from his “Where’s Waldo” book from across the room and said, “Speaking of sugar, can we have some more palm sugar?” He doesn’t miss much.

Guess while i’m at it I’ll do a book update. We’re still working our way through the Narnia chronicles during naptime, though we hit a wall with the Silver Chair. It’s been 2 weeks and we still have a chapter left. This is partially because I’ve had quite a few bulk kitchen projects to work on during naptime thus cutting reading short (or rather…keeping to time, instead of blowing just about the whole 2hrs on reading), and partially because he just wasn’t as into this one. I can see why though, it was much more nuanced (not sure if i used that properly) than the others thus far and a lot just whizzed over his head. There’s been a lot of that throughout of course, but the other stories had plenty of easy to grasp general stuff-going-on that he wasn’t lost for the main plot. I suspect the only reason he hasn’t given up entirely is because he knows the next (and last) book is called, “The Last Battle”. He’s all about battles.

And speaking of battles: Being that Knights are among his favorite things: We have been reading “The Story of Sir Lancelot and his companions“. Yeah…published in 1927 or something? Old English style, chock full of “thee, thou, whilst”. It was one of many (similar) books we picked up from the library that I randomly put on hold looking for “knight books” at his request. When we went to pick up the holds, Asher saw them before I had a chance to put them back and after seeing the title and flipping through the pictures, home they went. However, I told him I would not be reading any of them until after we finished the narnia books….and even then…that he probably wouldn’t understand these ones (i know, i probably shouldn’t say those things… i so didn’t WANT to read it). Anyhow, one day he suckered me into reading a chapter and sure enough, he understands more than I’d expect. I can’t decide if he REALLY knows what’s going on or if he just likes to sit for books (there’s almost no pictures in this one)…sometimes i wonder if he’d sit through the dictionary. But then i remember that twice he’s asked me to stop reading “The silver chair”. I’d love to see a movie clip of what’s going on in his mind while I read. Besides, it’s much more interesting (and funny) than I expected and though slightly tounge-tying, not as much as I expected. It’s kinda fun to ‘talk medieval’. However, since I’m a stickler about such things, I plan to get through the last ‘narnia book’ before continuing on with Sir Lancelot (& then a similar old english King Arthur book is on his wish list….).

And a final note on Grace: While she has no interest in novels or dinosaur books, she has come to enjoy books geared for her age, which has been really fun. Every evening she picks out books for Ryan to read, often the same books that she’s asked me to read multiple times that day. I really enjoy hearing his rendition of them. Sometimes he gives me good ideas for ways to change up a book that has been read a million times. She’s also come to the stage where she ‘reads’ them to herself (always out loud), which is super cute to listen to. I like her renditions as well. In fact often when I’m reading Asher’s choice for story time, if it’s a longish one, she’ll go get a book she likes & ‘read’ it while I read his.

Alright. Enough babbling. Good night.

by Faith, not Sight

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I mentioned before that the women’s bible study I attend bi-monthly had been going through the book, “Stepping Heavenward“, with the Study Guide. I jumped in partway through and only ended up working on two sections while we were going through it. Then I gave up, hoping that maybe some day I’d do it on my own. Knowing it was….well…not likely. Then Cheryl mentioned that if we HADN’T “done it”, she recommended we still do and perhaps do it during our devotional time. oh! Man! I recently had the realization that one of my biggest weaknesses is efficiency. I’ve known it all along but could never quite put my finger on the problem. It’s efficiency. If there’s something I need or want to do, I always go about it all wrong and take the long or hard (or impossible) way first and it takes MUCH trial & error to find a good streamlined system. Even then, it’s inevitable that if it’s something visible, when Ryan sees it he shakes his head at me and asks why I don’t do it XYZ way. Arg. Because that, VERY OBVIOUS (and…arg…correct) way NEVER STINKIN’ OCCURRED TO ME! :)

All that babble to say: Right. Devotional time. Ever since I finished the Hebrews study (studying Hebrews w/some gals in VA via a forum Ryan set up for us…just us, the bible and any commentary resources we found)…which took a year and by the end I was REALLY ready for something else (& no, I am no where near an expert on Hebrews much to my dismay)….I’ve been floundering more or less playing bible roulette in the mornings. Why it never occurred to me to use this resource for my bible study (the study guide has you go through all kinds of bible, applying it to the book….and have i mentioned the book is GREAT. It’s fiction, so very entertaining, yet insightful). I don’t know what’s wrong with my brain, but I guess it’s good insofar as it keeps me reliant on the Church (capital C)…others to push and pull me in the right direction. I NEED community. Thanks Cheryl for being my “Captain Obvious” on this. I love Captain Obvious….I rarely get to BE her.

Right. so the other weakness (because there’s only 2) is that whole “rambling, i can’t be brief” thing. :) The purpose of this post was to type out this quote that I read this morning in the study guide. Some Good ‘ole Watchman Nee (A pastor in College used to quote him incessantly..in fact i vaguely remember this story from him):

I put in bold what I underlined in my notebook.

Fact, Faith, and Experience were walking along the top of a wall. Fact walked steadily on, turning neither to right nor left and never looking behind. Faith followed, and all went well so long as he kept his eyes focused upon Fact; but as soon as he became concerned about Experience and turned to see how HE was getting on, he lost his balance and tumbled off the wall, and poor old Experience fell down after him.

All temptation is primarily to look within; to take our eyes off the Lord and to take account of appearances. Faith is always meeting a mountain, a mountain of evidence that seems to contradict God’s Word, a mountain of apparent contradiction in the realm of tangible fact – of failures in deed, as well as in the realm of feeling and suggestion – and either faith or the mountain has to go. They cannot both stand. But the trouble is that many a time the mountain stays and faith goes. That must not be. If we resort to our senses to discover truth, we shall find Satan’s lies are often enough true to our experience; but if we refuse to accept as binding anything that contradicts God’s Word and maintain an attitude of faith in Him alone, we shall find instead that Satan’s lies begin to dissolve and that our experience is coming progressively to tally with that Word (59-60)

Impulse “Coffee” review

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I admit I do have a tendency toward grocery impulse buys. I think i’ve mentioned before how strange my impulse buys tends to be though….like liver….i don’t know.

Anyhow, yesterday I was at the grocery store and near the “natural foods” section there was a huge bin with random items marked to clearance. I couldn’t help myself. I raided it. I found Some organic Grade B maple syrup half off (i bought 3), and Teeccino, for just over $3. I was pretty sure that was an amazing price, so I bought one. I heard of it a few years ago and have wanted to try it, but seeing as how I’ve never seen it in a store, and didn’t want to pay shipping for something I assumed would be gross (yet still i wanted to try it!), I never had. Anyhow, I bought it and made some yesterday. It’s good!

A few disclaimers: I don’t drink coffee regularly, and I like carob (this has carob in it & you can definitely smell it). I WANT to be a coffee drinker. I LIKE coffee, and enjoy the caffeine kick, but every time I start drinking it regularly I start having trouble sleeping (waking up with terrors to be exact…i assume it’s adrenal strain?), and some other ‘female’ problems intensify. I even recently made a conscious decision to start drinking coffee near lunchtime (sure was amazing to not be falling asleep during storytime!), and thought I was doing “ok”, but lo & behold, started waking up in a cold sweat afraid of the boogeyman again. arg. What am I, six?

Anyhow, all that to say, clearly I’m not an expert on coffee taste. However, I’m more of a ‘coffee snob’ than i’d expect, purely because the only coffee I tend to drink is what Ryan makes, and HE’S a coffee snob for sure. He makes good coffee. I have no qualms drinking his black. I can’t handle ‘hotel’ coffee. Even with cream & sugar. I feel like it’s safe to say it tastes like a flavored coffee. Not sure what flavor, but certainly not like “plain” regular coffee…I haven’t compared it side by side yet. The aroma is not super coffee but the ‘mouthfeel’ and aftertaste is for sure coffee. I am typing this with “coffee mouth”.

So, for what it’s worth, if you’ve been tempted to try it: I recommend it. :) & if you live near me, it’s on sale in the big ‘bargain box’ by the organic dairy stuff in the Cost Cutters off Meridian. …That is, if I haven’t bought it all. I like it a lot, but not enough to pay full price….that stuff’s expensive!

Also I will do my best to get ryan to taste it, but given his extreme snobbishness and apprehension of anything “weird” I offer him….well, we’ll see. In fact I’m afraid he’s not going to let me continue brewing it in his pot. (don’t tell him I’m doing it!)

Update: I just got him to sip it & he definitely did NOT like it. I have been sent to find something to remove the taste from his mouth. :) But he does not like carob (and he said it’s too sweet).

To Do Lists

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Ryan has made me a list person. It’s all his fault. In case you were wondering.

I’ve even gotten to the point where I have lots of random things flying around in my head & i feel overwhelmed & ‘stressed’ until I finally write them down & realize, “oh, that’s not too bad…” or at the very least, not PRESSING.

Part of the issue is the fact that all the little things that have to be done everyday (like housework & cooking), not to mention the joy of having fun with the kids (i can easily get ‘into’ housework & cooking & forget we should probably…oh I don’t know…PLAY sometimes??)…anything ‘extra’ wigs me out if it’s not in writing.  To the point that I ignore the voice that tells me i have a ‘mental list’ and watch tv or read during ‘free time’.   Sigh.  I’m a work in progress.

Today I finally typed up the current “extras” list:

TO DO:

  • iron patches onto mine & asher’s pants (asher currently owns 2 pair of pants w/o holes)
  • choose some dinners from fix freeze feast
  • plan april dinner calendar
  • re-do weekly schedule
  • plan breakfasts & lunches (? optional…i hate meal planning)
  • Go through craft book & choose activites/ add to calendar what days to do them (or i’ll never get around to it).

    • There ya go. Another nugget to file under “wow, Jenn is so super cool & hip”. I AM that 30-something minivan mom. Sigh.